The Boy-who-lived to Meet Death
by fullmoon71383
Summary: What if Harry had met someone else during that little trip to Limbo in the Deathly Hallows? What if instead of Dumbledore, Harry meets a certain perky goth girl, Death of the Endless. One shot. Set in the Movie Universe after Voldemort hits him with the Avada Kedavra. Complete.


**I do not own Harry Potter, or any characters affiliated with that series. I also do not own the Sandman or any of its characters. This is purely for entertainment. Hope you like. **

-The Boy-who-lived to meet Death.

Harry Potter stood in the clearing of the forbidden forest. The boy-who-lived, had come to die. His face remained a mask of stoic silence, belying the fear he felt inside. Even though he had resigned himself to his fate, the fear of the unknown still lingered at the edge of his mind. What if this was really the end? What if everyone he loved died along with him that night? He had put his faith in Dumbledore, and the plan that the learned wizard had constructed with Snape, but there were so few guarantees in life. It had comforted him to see his parents, Sirius, and Remus a few moments earlier; now he would have to take that comfort with him into the great beyond.

Before him stood the Dark Lord. The evil wizard that had tried to kill him once before, when he was only a mewling babe in his cradle. Had it not been for the noble and loving sacrifice of his mother Lilly, Voldemort would have succeeded. But fate had intervened that day, and the curse rebounded destroying the Dark Lord in Harry's stead. Now here they were again, only now Harry was a grown man, stronger, wiser, and more powerful then he had been then. Still he couldn't help it as a single tear slipped from his eye as he closed them. It ran down his cheek as Lord Voldemort raised his wand.

"Avada Kedavera!" The Dark Lord screamed as a flash of blinding green light enveloped Harry.

His body was racked with pain as he flew backwards in the air. His dying nerve endings barley felt the impact of his body against the ground. His breaths were so shallow he felt as if he were taking in no air at all. His heart desperately fought to continue pumping but it began to slow and fail. His eyes stared blankly up toward the black sky. His vision began to narrow and yet he could see someone standing over him. It was a woman. Her skin was as white as freshly fallen snow. Her hair was as black as the moonless sky above him. Her black eyes were rimmed with khol, and her lips were the same black as her hair. As the last of the synapses in Harry's brain fired, he struggled to understand who she was, or what she was doing in the Forbidden Forest with the Dark Lord. And then, just as the darkness overtook his vision, he heard the beating of mighty wings.

Harry jolted upright and gasped for air. His vision cleared and he could see that he was no longer in the Forbidden Forest. He was sitting on a stone floor. Everything around him seemed to be washed in a diffused, warm, white light. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand where he was. It seemed that he was in a train station, a train station that knew. It looked like King's Cross station, only cleaner, and with no trains, and then again no people. Harry got up on his feet and began looking all around him. He seemed to be the only person in the station. What was this? Was this supposed to be heaven? He felt like calling out to see if anyone was there, but a strange sound caught his attention. There the sound of rasping nearby. He cautiously moved toward a bench to his left, it seemed the noise was coming from beneath it. He stooped down and craned his head to look under the bench.

His eyes widened in horror at the sight he beheld. He actually fell back onto his haunches from the shock. Something small and wizened lay curled up beneath the bench. It looked like a hellish mockery of a child that had just been born. There was a thick sheen of bright red blood covering it. It's malformed arms hugged its twisted legs to its chest in what Harry could only imagine was a desperate attempt to cease its pain. Its ragged chest heaved up and down as it struggled to breathe. Its hideous face was drawn into a grimace, and it moaned pitifully. Harry's expression faded from shock into something resembling pity. He almost felt sorry for the ruined creature that lay cowering beneath that bench. Was this the part of Voldemort that had lived within him? He felt himself reaching out toward it, almost as if he couldn't stop himself. But a calm female voice from behind him broke his trance.

"You can't help." She said simply.

Harry leaped to his feet and spun around to see the same woman he'd seen right before his vision went dark in the forest. She looked to be not much older than him physically, but the look in her dark black eyes seemed to have an ageless quality to it. Her wavy black hair fell around her ghostly white face framing it quite beautifully. Her makeup was reminiscent of the ancient Egyptians, as her eyes were rimmed with khol and the line extended beyond the end of her outer canthus. She was dressed in a simple black tank top and black jeans. A black blazer completed the look. She resembled the goth kids that hung out in some of the coffee shops around London. Around her slender neck was a large Ankh on a silver chain. Harry's brows knit in confusion. He had no idea who she was, but there was something pulling at the edge of his mind. He felt the strangest notion that he had seen this woman before. But, he could not force his cloudy mind to remember where.

"Who...Who are you?" He asked.

The woman tipped her head from side to side as she mulled over his question. Then she game him a small subtle smile. "I have many names, but that's not really important." She answered.

There was something in the lilt of her voice that started to put Harry at ease. It was strangely familiar. An unbidden memory popped into his consciousness; that same voice had spoken to him once before. Somewhere beyond the desperate scream of a woman there was that other soft, melodic voice.

"You...I know you...at least I think do." Harry said running a hand through his unruly dark hair.

"Indeed you do." She responded toying with the Ankh on the end of its chain. "We've met before. But you were so little back then."

Harry's eyes widened in shock once more. "You knew me as a baby?" He puzzled.

The enigmatic woman in black nodded gently. "I was there that night in Godric's Hollow. The night you slipped through my fingers."

Harry narrowed his eyes again trying like mad to figure out who this woman was and what she wanted. "Who are you!" He asked more forcefully.

The woman didn't seem to take offense to the harshness in his voice. She simply leaned back against the bench and got more comfortable. "I am death." She answered plainly.

Death? Harry didn't know what to make of that response. "You mean you're the goddess of death?" He retorted. He knew that dozens of cultures around the world had a goddess that represented death or some aspect of it. But he had never expected those old myths to be true.

"No." The woman said evenly. "I am Death. No more no less."

Harry repressed the urge to snort at her response. Maybe he wasn't actually dead. Maybe Voldemort had just turned his brains to mush and he was having a grand hallucination. "I don't mean to be a skeptical git..." He began again. "But if you are death, you're not what I expected."

Death giggle lightly. "You're not the first to say that." She said. Then she stood up from the bench. "But if you'd prefer something more traditional..." She trailed off and then there was a shimmering in the air. Harry suddenly felt as if some kind of veil had been pulled off of his eyes. It was the like taking off the invisibility cloak. The peaceful white light vanished to be replaced by ominous shadows. And rather than the attractive goth woman standing before him there was a tall, menacing figure swathed in black robes, and holding a huge scythe. Two great black wings spread out behind it's back and a skeletal hand reached out from the mass of black robes to beckon to Harry with a bony, crooked finger.

"No-no, that's quite alright, just go back to way you were!" Harry said in a panic, raising his arms up defensively.

In a flash he was back in the soft, warm light of the train station with the simple and beautiful goth woman standing before him. Harry felt his pulse slow down as he realized the terrible vision was gone. He lowered his arms and tried to recover. Death smiled gently.

"Sorry about that. I just find people tend to like this much better." She said as she pointed at her current look.

"I can see why." Harry said his voice cracking ever so slightly. Then his mind returned to the questions at hand. "Wait you said you were in Godric's Hollow before?" he asked.

"Mmhmm." She replied. "The night you were supposed to die." She clarified. "And I must say boy-oh you are the only person to slip past me not once but twice."

"Well, what happened that night?" Harry pressed. "I mean I know that I lived, but if you're death, then why didn't you take me?"

"I was going to." Death said. "I was there in the room with you and your mother. But when Tom Riddle cast that curse the most curious thing happened."

Harry gave her a look urging her to continue.

"Such a noble and beautiful sacrifice. When your mother placed herself between you and the curse, her simple act of motherly love spared your life." Death held up her hands in a sort of surrendering fashion. "Even I can't touch that."

Harry considered her words. It seemed that everything he'd seen in Snape's memories were true. His mother's sacrifice had saved him from Death, even though it had placed that part of Voldemort's soul within him. But wait, Voldemort, what had become of him that night.

"And what of Volde...I mean Tom Riddle?" He asked.

"He's almost as slippery as you." She replied. "I've been trying to collect him for a long time now. And if all goes as planned, I will have him shortly."

Harry motioned back at the creature suffering beneath the bench. "And what about that?" He mused.

"Oh don't worry about that, that's my problem." Death said dismissively with a wave of her hand. "Come on, walk with me." She said as she started walking down the platform of the station.

Harry hesitated for a moment before following after her. They walked slowly as if they had all the time in the world to get to wherever they were going.

"So where are we exactly?" Harry asked after a few minutes of walking.

"You tell me." Death said. "I just pulled this place from your mind, I thought you'd feel more comfortable with somewhere you knew."

"Well it looks like King's Cross station." Harry said looking around again. "Only cleaner, and without any trains."

"Then that's where we are." Death retorted. Death looked over to see Harry with something of dejected expression on his face. "Anything wrong?" She asked.

"Hmm, oh." Harry returned snapping out of his thoughts. "Nothing it's just...I just thought maybe I would see Professor Dumbledore again."

"Sorry kiddo." Death said sympathetically. "He's already moved on."

"On to where?" Harry asked.

"On to the beyond." She answered cryptically.

"Are you being coy or do you just not want to tell me?" Harry inquired.

"It's not what you think." Death said. "I don't know where he is. I just know that he moved on."

"Surely Death knows where people go when they die." Harry said indignantly.

"Nope." She said pleasantly. "I just do the collecting, where they go is anyone's guess."

Harry pulled an irritated face and decided to drop it. Obviously there was only so much she knew. He sighed and continued asking her questions. "Death, have you been at Hogwarts?"

"Oh yes, many many times." She replied. "Especially tonight, very busy indeed."

"One thing more." Harry started again.

"Yeeees." Death responded in sort of jovial tone.

"You said I slipped through your hands not once but twice. But, if you've only visited me once, what was the second time?" He asked.

"Well here's the thing Harry dear...You're not exactly dead." She said smirking at him.

"I'm not!" Harry exclaimed. "But the killing curse hit me full on, I should be dead."

"Sorry pumpkin, you're not." She reaching for his hand and gave it a squeeze. "For reasons I can't understand you have a get-out-of-jail-free card. Let's just say it's complicated." She gave him a knowing look.

Harry felt a spark of hope rise in his heart. "So then, what happens now?" He asked.

"You said you only had one more question." Death retorted.

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes. Fortunately Death simply smiled and continued walking along. "Okay so there are more questions." He replied. "So what happens now?"

"Well..." Death began. "You could go with me in peace if you like, or you could go back."

"How?" Harry asked, feeling as if his head would cave in from all the confusion.

"You're in a train station aren't you? I imagine you could just get on a train and be on your way." She said motioning to the empty tracks beyond the platforms.

Harry stopped in his tracks and looked around. There still were no trains to be seen, but if he had the chance to go back and finish what he started, he knew that was the only choice. However, he still wasn't convinced that this wasn't some kind of dream. "Is all real? Or is it happening in my head?" He asked.

Death stopped walking and turned to face him. "Of course it's all in your head silly boy. But what difference does that make?" She laughed lightly and winked at him. Then gave him the most serene smile and walked a few paces toward him. "I know you wanted to see your old friend Dumbledore, and even though I couldn't let you see him; I did agree to give you a message from him."

Harry's brows shot up in surprise. "What is it?" He exclaimed.

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who deserve it." She stated. "That's all I can say, and now if you don't mind I have things to do and places to be." She turned on her heel and started walking down the platform again.

"Wait!" Harry called after her. She turned to give him an inquiring look.

"Thanks for your help." Harry said, this time it was his turn to smile at her.

Death made a small almost girlish curtsey. "My pleasure Mr. Potter." She replied. "I'll be seeing you again."

"You will?" Harry puzzled.

"Oh yes. One day whether they like it or not, all come to me." She said. There was something powerful and heavily weighted in that last statement. Harry felt that weight sink into him. He nodded, at last understanding just who and what this woman was. "Good luck." She said and raised a hand in farewell.

Harry felt as if some invisible tether was pulling on him. The warm white light began to grow and envelope him. The image of Death became hazy and blurred. It finally blinked out entirely as Harry was pulled back into the world of life, and urgency of the war that still had to be won.

The End.

**I hope you enjoyed this. If you did feel free to write a review. If not then please don't be too harsh. **


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